Ironic

Sara and I are taking a two week blogging break to spend the Christmas break with our kids and family. Don't worry We'll be back bright and shiny on January 2nd. With that, I leave you some parting thoughts.


Need to infuse your writing with more irony? You are in luck because I have some inspiration for you. Have A VERY Merry Christmas.


-Angie

Your Genre...

“Read in your genre. Read in your genre. Read in your genre.” 

You hear it all the time. From agents. From authors.  From people on the street (No, not really, but it seems that way) It feels like everyone gives the same advice.

I think it’s good advice. I’m a huge propionate of reading, but are you limiting yourself by only reading in the genre you write?

I think so.

There are PROS for reading IN your genre.

• You can spot trends
• You know the market
• You know what’s been done already
• You find new exciting authors
• You understand what readers of your genre expect 

But there are PROS for reading OUTSIDE of your genre.

• You can learn how to add suspense from reading Mystery or Suspense Novels
• You can learn how to add emotion form reading Romance and Contemporary
• You can learn how to use lyrical language from reading Literary Fiction
• You can learn world building from Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Dystopian
• You can learn how to make everything boring from reading Non-Fiction (I’m just kidding J But only a little) 

I’m sure there are more. What do you all think? Do you stick to your genre or do you find branching out helps you as a writer?

-Angie

Lost and Found

My first attempt at a Blog Hop - I couldn't pass this one up! Thanks Abby and the others for kicking this off!

This is for my brother Brian. His ideas of Christmas Giving have become a legend in our family! Here goes:

"Mom, no way! A new pocket knife?" Craig clutched the object within the newspaper wrap. "Wait a second, this is my old knife. Where did you find it? I thought I lost it after scout camp." Craig rubbed his finger across the rough edge where he’d carved his initials, CSA, into the handle. He waited for his mother to fill in the blanks, but she looked as surprised as he did.

"Your old pocket knife?" she repeated, grabbing the newspaper which had served as Christmas wrap. "It says from Santa," she said, looking at her husband. He shrugged his shoulders and pulled another gift from under the tree.

This one bore duct tape trim along the edge of yesterday’s front page. Across the newspaper in black marker someone wrote, “TO: Net, FROM: Snata.”

"Another from Santa, but this is for you, Lynette." He tossed the gift to his daughter, who wasted no time yanking at the duct tape.

"Here," her mom said, handing her the scissors.

"Daisy! It's Daisy, Mom! Where did you find her? I thought I lost you!" Lynette cried, hugging the doll to her.

“Hey, Dad, this one’s for me,” Clair said, reaching under the tree for the final newspaper donned gift. “Can I open it?” His dad nodded, eyebrows raised in curiosity as his third child tore open the wrap and pulled out a faded baseball cap. “My hat! Are you kidding me? I looked everywhere for this! Where was it?”

Their father scanned the room and settled on a small bundle nestled in the corner of their orange couch. There sat his four-year-old son, peeking at him from behind a blanket. The small form shook with a muffled laugh.

“I guess Santa surprised all of us this year!” their father said, winking.

--Sara Bulla

For my kids :)

Leigh Covington, David Powers, and J. A. Bennett are having a fun blog hop. Check itout here.

Here’s my entry—for my kids :)

            If we’re quiet Mom and Dad will never know. How can they think I’ll wait until six o’clock to see what Santa brought?

            It’s not fair. They’re my presents after all.

            “Do you think we should do it?” my brother McKay asks.

            “Yes…no…maybe. I don’t know.” I flop back on my bed. All this thinking is making me tired.

            The clock blinks…4:01…4:01…4:02.       

            My sister rolls over in her sleeping bag. She’s snoring again. She’s even loud in her sleep.
            McKay starts laughing.

            “Shush,” I tell him.

            “Should we do it?” He asks swinging his footie pajama feet onto the floor, careful not to step on Sis.

            I look at him.

            He looks at me.

            We both smile.

            We’re brothers so I know what he’s thinking.

            We’re out the door and through the hall—too fast to be quiet.

   “Shush,” we both say together.

            We pause at the top of the stairs

            We’re supposed to wait here and at 6:00 a.m. Mom and Dad will come get us. It’s tradition. Just like all the kids sleeping in the same room is tradition.

            I want to start my own tradition. Sneaking to look at my presents. That’s my kind of tradition.

            “Okay, be quiet,” I tell McKay.

            The stairs squeak, and it sounds like screaming. Why is nothing quiet when you need it to be? Stairs? Sisters?

            I can see the lit tree. Now my heart is racing…then I see a shadow.

            “Hey boys. Whatcha doing?”

It’s not to late to join. Get in on the fun. Thanks Abby :)

-Angie

What do you notice?

This topic has been on my mind for a while. Have you ever noticed that most writers have the super power of—noticing :) I read books and think, “Wow, I never noticed that, but it’s SO true!”

Writers notice everything. I don’t know of any other job that requires such great powers of observation. Maybe a spy—maybe. Or a mom—for sure.

Here are a few things I notice:

People: I watch people. I want to see how they interact with each other. I love to see their quirks and habits. What motivates them and how can I show that motivation through their actions?

Settings: Whether it is outside or inside, buildings or nature, events or quiet moments—I notice it. What is it that makes a haunted house creepy? How can I use those same principles to make a hospital or grocery store just as creepy.

Language: I notice the funny things people say. I notice the unusual words they use. But most of all, I notice what language says about them and how they view the world.

I’m sure there are more, but these are the three I notice myself noticing :)

What about you? AWhat do you notice? Tell me. I’m dying to know.

-Angie 

Best pick up lines...ever!

My 17 year old Bro, Alex, is quite popular with the ladies so I asked him for his best pickup lines. Here are a few gems. They are too good to keep to myself...enjoy!

• If you were a booger, I would pick you first!
• Did you fart? Because you just blew me away!
• Oh, there is something wrong with my phone...your number's not in it!
• You look a lot like my next girlfriend.
• My love for you is like diarrhea... I can't hold it in.
• Will you hold this (offering a hand) while I go for a walk?
• Hi, I'm Mr. Right someone said you were looking for me.
• I lost my teddy bear can I cuddle with you instead?
• Excuse me, I'm lost can you give me directions to your house?
• I think there is something wrong with my eyes...I can't take them off of you.
• When I saw you across the room I tripped and fell...I am going to need your name and number for insurance purposes.
• I am not telling you this to impress you, but...I am Batman.
• Kiss me if I'm wrong but is your name Guadalupe?
• I'm incredibly rich.

Isn't he a great writer :) Have a wonderful weekend.

-Angie

Why Storytelling is important

The Storyteller 

I’m sure you could take a college class or attend a lecture about this topic, and I’m not a teacher, but I’ve been thinking about this lately and I wanted to share my thoughts :)

Why storytelling is important (at least to me :)

Stories provide a safe way to confront personal demons. There is something so cathartic about a character fighting through the same thing you are. There is something about the outside looking in that makes the right thing to do easy to see. Personally, I like this fight to be abstract. I can’t begin to tell you how hard I cried thinking about two small hobbit battling against a power they logically couldn't beat.

Stories challenge our prejudices. We all have prejudices. They are built into our psyche as a way to keep us safe. I love reading books that begin with a character I’m not particularly fond of and then the author turns my world upside down and changes everything I know. I remember feeling this way after I read To Kill a Mockingbird.

Stories provide a needed escape. You can bury yourself in Angry Birds or worse more destructive kinds of escape, but reading is the perfect retreat. Not only do you get away, but you are working your mind and learning too. Now that is my kind of multitasking. This last year I read over 80 books and next year I’m setting a goal for 100. I need books—they are my oxygen.

Mark Twain said—“A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t.”

To that I say…AMEN!

-Angie

What do you think? Why important is storytelling to you?

Take Two

Yesterday I posted, The Take Back - Query, and doubled up on top of Angie's 'embarra**ing moment' post! D'oh! It was intended for today and rather than post something new, I'd like to leave my yesterday's post out there in the blog-o-sphere for today as well. I received some really great feedback (Thank you again for the advice and pointers that were shared. SO helpful!), and I'd love to receive more. You can scroll down to yesterday's post, or I've also pasted my query below. I haven't made any changes as of yet, though I know they are needed and will get on it as soon as time permits. Any comments, critique, suggestions, etc. are more than welcome!

Thanks everyone! And Happy Wednesday!

--Sara Bulla

Life energy can be stolen—days, months, years of life snatched with nothing more than irritated eyes to show for it. The Takers are waiting, committing the perfect crime, so they can live forever.

Seventeen-year-old Abby Crawford thought she was the only one with a secret—seeing the death of strangers and friends in her dreams. But when she flees her home town, ashamed of her ability, she discovers people who know not only of her power, but her family and destiny, too.

Will never believed the far-fetched stories about his life, but once Abby arrived, he couldn’t ignore that her gift might confirm his greatest fear: that he’s a Taker. Now their fates are bound together by Abby’s gift and Will’s dark past. Abby and Will are all that stands between humanity and the Takers. But the Takers have a secret that could leave the world defenseless—forever.

Freezing your butt off :)

Oh my goodness, I had to dig deep for this post. I think it is because I rarely get embarrassed. It isn’t because I never do anything stupid or shameful, but because I have that kind of personality that shrugs that kind of thing off. Is that weird?

I also never write embarrassing things happening to my characters (propably because I have so little experience). I’ve realized I need to work on that. I’m making a goal now to put that something embarrassing in my current WIP.

So instead of a story about me I will share something that happened to my dad’s best friend :) Is that cheating? Sorry :)

My dad is a phenomenal skier. He was on the downhill ski team in college and when I was just a baby he worked for Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Wyoming.

One day he and his best friend Michael were assigned to patrol the slopes. So, dad and Michael are skiing around helping the inept skiers and Michael suddenly has a problem. He needs to go to the bathroom. They are at the top of a run and there isn’t really anytime to make it to the bottom.

What would you do? Me? I don’t know. Do you really have options? I can see what is coming, but evidently Michael can’t.

Michael skis off the run and into the trees—far away from people. Of course. Now this story would be okay if the bathroom problem was a standing up problem, but it isn’t. This is a squatting bathroom problem. *shakes head*.

Michael drops his pants and…takes care of business. And then suddenly he’s moving…backward…down the mountain.  Gives new meaning to the phrase—a**  backward :)

I’ve heard this story from Michael’s own lips, so I know what he was thinking. He was sure he could turn himself around, so he just kept on going. My dad is racing after him, but Michael is in a tuck and cruising down the run. Luckily he’s a great skier and manages to miss all the other skiers.

By the time my dad catches up, Michael is at the bottom of the run lying in a heap laughing his frozen butt off. At least he has a sense of humor!

Thanks for the fun blog hop Cassie. If you want to read the other entries check out her blog.

-Angie

The Take Back - Query

I am a gleaner, harvesting information from all those around me. I am so new and unfamiliar with the 'business' side of writing: The query, the synopsis, blogging, cover letters, etc. I have learned SO much from my critique partners as well as those of you who follow our blog and whose blogs I follow! Thank you for your gems of wisdom ... I have truly benefited.

So, can I impose upon you all once again? I know Angie threw her query out to you a while back and received some incredible feedback. I'd like to do the same, if I may. I've written a YA/Urban Fantasy novel topping off at 94,000 words. I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback!! Thank you and good luck to you all in your own writing pursuits whatever they may be! Here goes ...

Life energy can be stolen—days, months, years of life snatched with nothing more than irritated eyes to show for it. The Takers are waiting, committing the perfect crime, so they can live forever.

Seventeen-year-old Abby Crawford thought she was the only one with a secret—seeing the death of strangers and friends in her dreams. But when she flees her home town, ashamed of her ability, she discovers people who know not only of her power, but her family and destiny, too.

Will never believed the far-fetched stories about his life, but once Abby arrived, he couldn’t ignore that her gift might confirm his greatest fear: that he’s a Taker. Now their fates are bound together by Abby’s gift and Will’s dark past.

Abby and Will are all that stands between humanity and the Takers. But the Takers have a secret that could leave the world defenseless—forever.

Ta-Dah! That is the Take Back in a nutshell. Thanks to Angie and others who have already given me a lot of guidance with this. And thanks, in advance, to you who take the time to post a comment/critique. Happy Tuesday everyone!

--Sara Bulla

What is success—really?

Not a picture of me :)

My kids and I have been sick for a week, so if I’ve been a little absent from the blog-o-shere, I’m sorry.

NaNoWriMo kicked my butt. I ended with 22, 039—which is good, but obviously short of my goal. I keep telling myself that it is 22K more than I had in October, but somehow it still feels like a failure.

I’m a bit of an overachiever, so less than perfect is never good enough. And I always make the mistake of doing too much at once.

Last month I—

• Remodeled my bathroom
• Started a new diet and exercise program (and lost 10 lbs)
• Wrote 22k
• Was sick for a week.
• Had sick kids for a week.
• Hosted Thanksgiving at my house.
• Read 5 books
• Did hours of house work
• Finished all my Christmas shopping

I look at this list and in my mind I know I accomplished tons, but why does it feel like I failed?

AUGGH!!! Am I crazy? Someone help. I’m going to lie down...I'm still kind of sick.

-Angie

Shopping for books?

I love to get books for Christmas. I remember when my husband and I were first married, he said he thought getting books for Christmas was a terrible idea. He is SO wrong! I think he’s changed his tune because I’ve gotten books for a few years now.

So if you are wondering what to buy for gifts, I thought I would give out a few recommendations. I was going to go with just books published in 2011, but then I changed my mind. Happy Christmas Shopping!

My Favorite Books of 2011

Non-Fiction: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

 Religious:  Seven Miracles that Saved America by Chris Stewart and Ted Stewart

 Mystery: Lemon Tart by Josi Kilpack

Literary Fiction:  The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Bradbery

 Romance: The Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah Eden

 Verse Novel: Far From You by Lisa Schroeder

 YA Contemporary: The Next Door Boys by Jolene Perry

 YA Paranormal: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

 YA Dystopian: Possession by Elana Johnson

YA Sci-Fi: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Women’s Fiction: Gravity vs. TheGirl by Riley Noreen

 Middle Grade Fantasy: The Shifter by Janice Hardy

Children’s: Junie B. Jones (all of them) by Barbara Park

 Picture Book: Sleep, Big Bear,Sleep by Maureen Wright

and Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier

That should be a little something for everyone :) Give books for Christmas!

-Angie

And just in case you are wondering...of course I have read them all :)

Are you a sadist or a sweetie?

I vividly remember the moment when J.K. Rowling killed off Dumbledore. I thought, “She’s capable of ANYTHING!” It was the perfect set up for book 7 because I honestly didn’t know if she would kill Harry or not. I really believed Rowling might—which I guess she did :)

That is the kind of writer I want to be—the kind capable of anything. I don't want to write the kind of story where nothing bad happens and all of the characters are perfectly safe. If this is something you want too...I have tips.

Don’t pull your punches. If you write your characters into a bad situation DON’T bail them out at the last second. Let them show you what they are made of. They may surprise you.

Fears. Find what your MC’s greatest fear is and MAKE them confront it. Is it death, betrayal, abandonment? When confronted with our worst there is nowhere to go but up.

Consequences. Don’t skip the consequences, they are the unbreakable rules. If you do X than Y happens. If you do X and A happens you might lose readers. I know we love our characters and don’t want to hurt them, but if they don’t have to own their consequences the story can feel unjust. And injustice can alienate readers fast.

Write terrible things. If bad things happen to good people, it will keep your readers unsettled. They will never know what you are going to do. They won’t be able to trust your happy ending—and that will keep them reading.

Insert maniacal laughter here :)

Now just in case you think I’m a serial sadist, I want to say—I’m a fan of happy endings, with one huge caveat. HAPPY ENDINGS MUST BE EARNED!

If everything is all butterflies, unicorns, and rainbows, the happy ending is much less satisfying. But if your MC struggles, fights, and makes hard decisions—then the happy ending moves us.

How did you feel when Harry and Ginny put their kids on the train to Hogwarts? I’m not ashamed to admit I cried—see I’m not heartless.

-Angie

The Perfect Storm

I've questioned the sanity of combining NaNoWriMo with one of the biggest Holiday months of the year. For most of us, last week was a bust. We were eating pie, cooking turkey and visiting with friends and family. I was either too busy or too sleepy to even think about working out my next plot point or adding descriptive setting to my latest scene.

So, I asked Angie, "Why can't we do this in January? Or March? Why November; when Thanksgiving cuts into our precious thirty days and Christmas is knocking at our doors?"

Well, I have a theory. I believe November provides the Perfect Storm. Not only are we attempting to put our novels down on paper, but we embark on a great balancing act. We must write, and be a mother, perhaps a hostess, or a guest, a cook, an in-law, or a savvy shopper, a dishwasher, a wife, a father--the list goes on and on and on. We are put to the test during this month. The demands on our time and attention mount. The stresses and pressures of the season threaten to shake our resolve and our focus. But like Elizabeth Bennett, I believe our 'courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate..." us! I believe that we can accomplish more than we think, and this NaNo challenge is the perfect proving ground.

Whether we walk away from this with the full 50,000 words or not, we've done it! And if you're like me, you've stretched, grown and progressed during these last thirty days. I'm going to fall short of my goal, but I have no regrets. In fact, I'm full of gratitude for this experience. I've learned so much and made a humongous stride towards completing my next novel.

Congratulations to all of you NaNo-ites! We've nearly made it! Good luck on the next forty-eight hours! And good luck to everyone who is plugging away at your own goals that reach far above and beyond NaNoWriMo.

-- Sara Bulla

What do you need?

Two weeks ago I hit a snag in my NaNo WIP. I didn’t have enough conflict—and when I mean conflict I don’t mean fighting. I mean the kind of conflict that makes your stomach churn as you read.

The problem was that my MC had two needs that ran parallel throughout the story, and it was getting boring. So I got to thinking…what can I do to crank up the conflict?

Then…epiphany!

Take my MC's two needs and make them in direct conflict to each other.  Make him choose between two things he wants—but he can’t have both. The physical and emotional toll these kinds of conflict have on our MC’s can be visceral.

My one warning with this type of conflict is that you MUST follow through. If you force your MC to make a choice only to suspend the consequences of that choice than you become a liar, and readers will start to see your conflict as false. I think everyone has read a book or seen a movie and you don’t believe for one second that the MC will really have to make a choice.

So if your MS is a little flat, try giving your MC competing needs. It can really spice up a dull story.

-Angie


Pop on over to Afterglow Book Reviews and check out my review of The Next Door Boys by Jolene Perry :)

Gratitude Attitude

I’m taking the rest of the week off to overeat and shop :) But in the spirit of Thanksgiving I wanted to give a little thanks.

I am thankful for:

My husband being home. Because of economy issues and no jobs my husband spent the last year working in Texas, while I stayed in Utah with my kids. That was a very long year. But on Halloween my husband started a new job 7 minutes from our house! Having him home is positively luxurious.

Health. I just went through a bout of staph infections with my kids. They caught mrsa—the antibiotic resistant staph. People die from mrsa! I know I’m being dramatic, but it really scared me. But I’m so grateful everyone is healthy now, because I know there are plenty of people who aren’t.

Creativity.  Is it weird that I love being creative? Whether it is writing or art, creativity fills the empty spaces in my life. I’m so grateful that I have time to do what I’m passionate about and a husband and kids that believe I’m capable of creating worthwhile things.

Happy Thanksgiving

-Angie

Cloudy with a Chance of Karen Carpenter

This morning I loaded my kids into our mini-van and began our Thanksgiving vacation. Our Destination: Grandma's house. It was snowing in Cache Valley when we left and the clouds followed us until we pulled into my parent's driveway.

I am normally a stormy weather girl, but today, it pushed my limits. I needed sunshine and was met with gloom. It just so happened that the only music available to me during this short road trip was Karen Carpenter. Normally, I have a limit to the ooo's and aahhhh's and la la la's that I can take. But not so today. Her voice was like balm to my soul. I hit repeat on "On top of the world" at least seven times. I'm not kidding.

Why this sudden change? I mean, I like Karen Carpenter, I do, but I usually avoid the songs like, "Sing, sing a song" and the other campfire, folksy-type songs and move right to her deep, darker melodies. Today, however, I drank them in and by the time our three hour drive concluded, I figured out why.

It's my WIP. This book that I'm writing for NaNo, is depressing. It's heavy. It's number two in a series of three. I start out with drama and crisis and I end with drama and only slightly less crisis. It's dark (which I like, but I'm in serious danger of overdosing)and it's loaded with stress, heart ache and hopeless situations.

Can I just throw this question out to those of you in our friendly blog-0-sphere: How do you keep a dark, heavy book doable? Likable? Readable? I have a good light-hearted character in there, as well as a bit of humor where I can squeeze it in, but I'm being honest when I say that I could have driven around the block four more times just to here Karen sing, "Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eye and I, won't be surprised if it's a dream. (all together now) I'm on the, top of the world, looking down on creation and the only explanation I have found; is the love that I've found ever since you've been around, your love's put me at the top of the World!" I was aching for sunshine and love and happiness and birds singing in the air. My WIP is bringing me down, folks, and I'm afraid it just might sink the ship. :(

For a brief moment, I was on top of the world; I just don't know if I can transfer the Karen Carpenter warm fuzzies to my characters. What do you do to lighten it-up, propel the story forward, and bring a welcome ray of sunshine without spoiling the good, creepy, heart-wrenching darkness? Am I making any sense?

--Sara Bulla

Happy Thanksgiving!

Make them weep...

I found this quote and it hit me hard. I needed to share it with you.

If your characters cry, your readers won’t have to;

if your characters have good reason to cry and don’t,

your readers will do the weeping.

—Orson Scott Card

I think this is brilliant. Happy NaNoWriMo!

-Angie

A NaNo Poem

NaNoWriMo ate me whole,

And spit me out onto the floor.

My brain is mush,

My thoughts are slush,

My dirty house—it makes me blush.

My sub-plots all have run amuck,

To finish I will need some luck.

I do not sleep until I’m beat,

My children do not need to eat,

But—50,000 words are sweet!

Have a great weekend :)

-Angie

Instinct vs. Analysis

So you’re writing along. Everything is going great and then…BAM! Your story hits a snag! What do you do?

Do you analyse the problem, or do you act on instinct to fix it?

Myself—I’m an analyzer. I analyze when I write. I analyze when I read. I love to see how stories work. Why they work. I also love to find problems in books and see how I would fix them if it were my story. Why doesn’t the pacing work? Why does it?What is wrong with the characterization? How do you handle a flashback?

But there is a part of me that wished I was more of an instinctual writer. You know the kind of people who can “sense” problems. They can also “feel” the pacing and “discern” plot holes. It’s kind of like a super power. Super Writer to the rescue!

So what about you? Are you an instinctual writer or an analytical one?

-Angie

Mid-Point Reversal

It’s mid-point through NaNoWriMo. How is the writing going? Great I hope!

I thought the middle was the perfect place to talk about the mid-point reversal. It is what keeps your middle from sagging.

The mid-point reversal should be just that a reversal. A reversal of your characters luck. A reversal of your reader’s expectations. A reversal that shocks us.  A reversal that changes the direction of your story. A reversal that reveals a secret.

Don’t know where to start? Ask yourself a few questions?

• What is the worst thing that could happen?
• Is there a secret that could throw us?
• What could happen to make your antag give up?
• How could the antag get the upper hand?
• What is something your protag needs to know to win in the end?
• Is there a twist to send the story in a new direction? 

In my first MS the mid-point reversal is actually positive. My characters get help in an unexpected place. And that surprise is what changes the course of the story. So it doesn’t need to be negative—just twisty. 

Famous mid-point reversals (well semi famous):

• Pride and Prejudice—Darcy proposing to Elizabeth.
• The Hunger Games—Katniss finding out she and Peeta can team up in the hunger games.
• Twilight—Edward confesses his feeling for Bella.
• The Sorcerer’s Stone—Harry finds out Voldemort is looking for the Sorcerer’s Stone.  

Notice how in each of these examples the reversal changes the trajectory of the story.

 

Good luck with your middle, and happy NaNoWriMo!

 

-Angie